a fast one

politicians are very fast in pulling a fast one on the public by going on fasts. their hunger for publicity is such after all. when they take up the cause of the trodden, they ensure it appears above the fold in the newspapers.
fasting as a weapon was of course invented by the Mahatma. the skeletal images of the indians esp rural folk, stirred him. but the modern politicians don't have the stomach for such unto-death fasts. they have invented relay hunger strike - that is fast till the food he had is digested and hand over the baton to the next man who just had his lunch. the post-mortem of a leader, who was murdered during one such fast, it was widely rumoured, showed he had idlis a few hours before the assassination.
look at the recent launch of such one by former Andhra Pradesh ex-chief minister chandrababu naidu - suicide by a farmer stirred his conscience and he launched a fast. soon his rivals plunged head on into the act. if they are so concerned let them till the land along with the farmers to highlight the problem. instead they till the fertile vote ground. the hunger of the poor is the fodder for their survival.
of course the one tamil nadu chief minister karunanidhi undertook was the acme of the vaudeville. the way his two wives - one sat at at his head and and the other at his feet - and competed to serve him in full glare, a spectacle indeed. the real cause is gobbled up. millions go sans a meal, as the mealy-mouthed politicians solganeer.
every year the government reels out statistics on shining india only to induce a reeling sensation among the distressed. the poor continue to eat a humble pie. the question what's cooking elicits (apart from the figurative sense) an empty stare - simply because nothing is cooking. for many, the meal is simply coarse grains, pour water and add salt. this gruel - a watered down version of food - is their staff of life. a pickle is a luxury and vegetables not even a dream. for them aphorisms like "The right time to eat is: for a rich man when he is hungry, for a poor man when he has something to eat" are meaningless. this leads to crime and in fact many people prefer the hardships of jail so that they would get something to eat. many a time, the rumble in the stomach gains traction as grumble and tumbles the governments - remember let them eat cake grandstanding?
the government has introduced shops to sell food at subsidised prices. for many, the ration shop has no rationale - after all they don't have the means to buy the articles.
while some people are forced to go empty stomach, others prefer to go so by choice. there was this actress who would spread all kinds of dishes, desserts, ice creams - quite mouthwatering - on the table and well simply watch them. afterall pencil-thin figure is importantna? instead of eating, they apply cheese, honey, vanilla extracts and eggs on their face and skin!
empty stomachs evoke sympathy. this leads to charity. read this story. every year in some american town, the school organises charity drive. the students collect food items and keep them safe in the school because of the threat from a poor white neighbourhood nearby. then they send it to the native Indian tribes. once one of the boys meets a native indian at a soccer match. the native thanks this boy for the food items but wonders how they eat a particular yoghurt item. the boy is puzzled and asks what they do with the yoghurt stuff. well, said the Indian. we have our own charity drive. we always send it to the poor white neighbourhood near your school!!
i sign offf beffore your appetite goes down.